Weekly Devotional: The gift of the law (2 in Romans series)
Whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law… Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. Romans 3:9–20 (NIV)
As we saw last week, Paul writes to the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome with his radical message of God’s saving plan. No matter what our racial heritage, we all fall under the curse of sin. As Paul says, God’s law reveals our sinful hearts and actions, and we don’t find freedom and grace through observing the law. Rather it shows us how we fall short of God and his standards – and thus how we need a Savior.
We so-called New Testament Christians can misunderstand God’s law, thinking of it as commandments and strictures that the Lord gave in the Old Testament to keep his people in line. But God’s people saw it as a source of life and joy and hope, for through it they found guidance for living life to the full. As the Psalmist cried out, “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long” (Psalm 119:97).
I made this mistake when I was writing my BRF Lent book The Living Cross, and was gently corrected by the wonderful writer Michele Guinness, who combines her Jewish roots with her vibrant Christian faith. She showed me how Jesus relieves us from the curse of our sin, not from the law. After all, in Jesus’ greatest commandment, he quotes from the law that God’s people love the Lord with all of their heart, soul and strength (see Mark 12:29–30, in which Jesus references Deuteronomy 6:4–5).
I’m grateful for Michele elucidating this for me, for I’m reminded that the depth of God’s wisdom is so great that we will keep discovering it to be a well of living water that cleanses and fortifies us. The law brings life!
Prayer: Father God, your words help us to walk in your way, and your Spirit leads us into all truth. Show me today how I can follow your life-giving law, that I might be your ambassador of love and peace.
Hello! 
Exactly – Jesus is the Torah personified. I can’t help thinking that Western Protestantism introduced an unhelpful split between the biblical concepts of Law and Grace (for reasons that are understandable, given the historical context in which Protestantism arose, and Luther’s emphasis on ‘no condemnation’). The Law of Moses is incomplete without Jesus, who both fulfills and personifies it, but it also introduced a holistic view of spirituality, i.e. everything is sacred, when it’s centred in God.
It is one of the great ironies of church history that some Protestants who despised the Law and also opposed Catholicism then invented church systems, rules and regulations that easily rivalled the spiritual bondage they’d left behind …
I too am a big fan of Michele’s writing, and it was great to meet her, if ever so briefly, when she came to the HarperCollins office one day (this was before your time there, Amy).
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment, Philippa! I agree about Protestantism, and it’s rules, often unwritten. Such as a worship service that has a very distinct flow and pattern, but those leading said service say that they don’t like the strictures of liturgy!
Michele is amazing. Glad you got to meet her!